Methods of textile colouration are well known in the art and have been practiced for centuries. However, textile colourants typically have to be admixed to obtain a particular shade of colour and this requires many stock keeping units. Admixing also requires time, which is inconvenient in today's fashion markets which demand last minute processing.
Textiles are often printed using contact printing apparatus and ink. Contact printing is complex, lacks resolution and is time consuming. It may also result in damage to the textile being printed.